Intermediate course 250710

Quite unusual to have a group as large as 5 on an intermediate course but as expected Anthony, Christine, John, Caroline and Mark got on very well which made for a nice atmosphere to learn new skills in. Each person had their own little issues that we could iron out as the day progressed. It was wonderful to see that despite dreading certain obstacles they all made an effort to conquer their fears and have a go. The day was a mix of easy to learn techniques such as big drop offs mixed with stuff such as wheelies and bunny hops that takes more time to master. While some managed to jump over some obstacles, all of the participants managed elegant front and rear wheel lifts by the end, with Caroline doing some of the biggest front wheel lifts I've ever seen!

Beginner course 240710

Lovely dry trails and wonderful participants, what more can you ask for! Garry had ridden for a while but felt he needed to add some skills to be more confident with technical terrain and Nicola was more or less a complete beginner having only got her own bike very recently. Both of them did really well and were able to progress quickly to harder and harder terrain. I was tempting fate though by saying to Nicola when hearing that she had never ever had a crash that maybe now would be a good time to crash! And she promptly did! And nice big crash as well! She picked herself up and really showed her potential as a mountain biker by immediately getting back on the bike and if anything riding even better than she did before the crash.

I cannot thankyou enough for the tuition on saturday, I feel so much more confident riding now and just need to stay of the brakes a bit more and go a bit quicker. After nailing that technical rocky section near your property my confidence grew and felt happy tackling that rooty steep drop off before heading back to the car park. I would never have attempted that before saturdays course. I even enjoyed the climbs !
I will definately visit the peaks again and will no doubt visit Roman Lakes again to clear that rocky climb ,without touching down, and then practise that technical section again. Don't be surprised if you see someone slightly familiar dashing up that path next to your property ( if thats OK of course).

I shall work on my fitness and will no doubt book again for the intermediate course.

Thanks again,

Garry

Intermediate course 150710

Steve arrived on his bike since lives only 3 minutes away from the start of the course and knows the area really well. He was already a very accomplished rider but wanted to increase his confidence on very steep descents and drop offs. He did very well on both and quickly was able to move onto increasingly harder slopes. All it took were some minor adjustments to body position and where he was looking! Progress was also made on bunny hops, trackstands and wheelies. I was pleased to be able to show him some hidden little paths that he'll now will be able to include in his normal weekly route.

"A great day on the bike. It turned out to be one on one tuition so got to practice loads with lots of very helpful comments and instructions from Emmy. With only slight alterations to my riding style Emmy managed to improve both my climbing and descending greatly. Also learnt some new bike control skills which I now need to practise. Emmy lets you control the day doing as little or as much as you want. I would recommend doing a day course to gain confidence, skills and make those little changes to riding posture that seem to make all the difference"
Thanks again,
Steve Brocklehurst

Beginners course 03/07/10

Having done a lot of 1 to 1 sessions it was nice to again have a group for the day. Mandy, Jim, Alison, Jason and Rob came to build on their skills to be more comfortable riding on technically challenging terrain. Some having visited trail centres had found some stuff quite intimidating and ended up walking a lot of it.

They were all very quick learners and we quickly progressed everyone's riding while having a great laugh about Jason getting to grips with his brand new SPD pedals. Thankfully he bounced well and by the end of the day had only a minor scratch despite numerous comedy crashes! At the end of the day the entire group managed to ride the big drop safely and found themselves instead of dreading technical obstacles quite enjoying them, because now they knew the techniques to ride them. I know this bunch of people won't have to do much walking anymore!




























Hi Emmy,

Just a quick note to say thank you once again for a great day last Saturday, both Mandy and I really enjoyed it. We both learnt lots of new skills and the confidence you have instilled already has made a world of difference. We can’t wait to get back out and ride now, tow paths I feel will be a thing of the past…
Your friendly, professional and patient approach helped the day to be interesting, challenging and most of all fun…
We look forward to seeing you again when we come back for the intermediate course in the near future.

Thanks

Jim & Mandy

Skills days 31-01/07/2010

As a complete beginner Tariq came for two days to learn how to safely ride off road. The first day we spent working on the core skills, such as positioning on the bike, climbing, descending, braking etc as well as drop offs and steps. The second day we went for a ride in the local Peak district area to put the skills into practise. Having learnt to ride on some of the most technically challenging terrain I think Tariq will find most stuff very easy once he is on home ground near Oxford.